Bitter Sweet Justice For Clay Andrews Racing
Wednesday, August 2nd, 2006 12:00pm CDT
By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Published on Thunder Lounge.
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[thumb:379:l:s=1:l=x]One of the big stories at the moment is David Gilliland. By now you’ve most likely heard all the rumors flying around. Robert Yates has a (supposed) one race deal with Gilliland to drive their #90 entry in the Busch race at IRP this weekend; Robert Yates has a press conference scheduled for Friday afternoon at Indy; Gilliland was interviewed at Pocono while eating M&M’s, and saying he should be able to announce something about his future soon; Then finally, the missing piece that pretty much sums up that Gilliland has signed with someone: Clay Andrew Racing announced Monday that they would be shutting their doors.
Has “Cinderella” left the ball, in hopes of living happily ever-after, leaving those that got her to the ball to transform back into their previous selves?
Nobody likes to see a team close its doors. But realistically, didn’t they somewhat have to at least expect and prepare for it? The reason I say that boils right down to why David wasn’t actually under contract with them. The only logical explanation is that so David could do exactly what he’s doing. Move on to another team to further his career. Why else was there not a contact involved?
This is any one’s guess. However, I’m not sure Clay Andrews Racing saw this one coming as quick as it did. Then again, they knew what they had under the hood and in the seat. It just took the rest of the world a little time to catch up.
For all intensive purposes, the closing of Clay Andrews Racing announces to the world that David has signed with someone. Since David’s interview at Pocono, while his snack wasn’t melting in his hand, the rumors have flown that he would be one of the drivers to fill a seat at Yates. While there isn’t anything official on this, all one has to do is put 2 and 2 together, and arrive at an answer of 4.
The first 2:
- David has confirmed that he has had numerous offers, including Busch rides, Cup rides, and a combination. He said he’d prefer a deal that included both.
- He mentioned in a recent interview that while (at the time) nothing was in stone, he should be able to announce something soon.
Add the next 2:
- Yates signs Gilliland to drive his #90 Busch entry this weekend at IRP. Announced as a one race deal, is it really?
- Clay Andrews Racing closes up shop, no more racing this year. Perhaps, in a few years (they said 3), as they had their eyes on an upcoming driver.
Answer: 4.
Logically, if Gilliland was signed with anyone other than Yates, would they be allowing him to run Yates’ Busch car? Most likely not.
Further into the mix, adding fuel to the fire, is Robert Yates has scheduled a press conference for Friday afternoon at Indy. Most rumors agree this is to announce Gilliland being signed.
However, while this seems to be the case, we offer you another scenario to ponder.
Just what if, in an infinitely small possibility, Gilliland didn’t sign with Yates. While the odds of this are incredibly against, let’s explore something for the sake of entertainment.
Unless the deal with Yates for IRP was already done, who else would allow the deal to continue if they were signing Gilliland? Some might like to think they would, but would they let it continue? I can think of one such team owner that would let it continue. One that is “Yates friendly”, shall we say. Jack Roush.
Jack was seen with Gilliland at Martinsville, and I’ll bet they weren’t just having coffee.
Take into consideration that other than the mention last season once Jamie was signed to Roush and Kurt announced his departure to Penske, there has been no mention from Roush that indeed Todd Kleuver will take the seat in the #6 in lieu of Mark Martin. Looking at Kleuver, he’s got skill. However, is he ready to jump up? Could it in all possibility be that David could be the one? Sure, why not? In a Roush situation, there would also be Busch races as well.
Along this same line, Yates has more than one seat to fill. Rumors have been going round all summer about Ward Burton taking one of those. Could it be that Yates is going to announce that deal, and this whole thing with David is just an incredible coincidence? Sure, it’s possible.
The question then would be, where’s the announcement from Roush? It’s not uncommon for announcements to just “happen” at a track.
Ok, back to reality. So that is simply more entertaining than anything, and nobody has reported anything to back it up. No anonymous tips, or anything of the sort. It’s mere food for thought, as an entertaining look at an unlikely scenario.
There is one thing that sticks out though. Is Gilliland the only announcement from Yates? Probably.
Also along this same line of discussion comes the inevitable discussion of whether a single Busch win qualifies someone to garner so much attention.
For that, you’ll have to wait for the Water Cooler tomorrow, as it was one of the big topics debated this week.
Filed Under: Busch Series, Nascar, Nextel Cup
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You may be onto something. If not.. welcome to the Conspiracy Theorists Hall of Shame. As you know, I’m a charter member.
Marc said this on August 3rd, 2006 at 3:12 am
I’m not sure Marc. I seriously doubt it, but it was an entertaining consideration. Which is why I made sure to say entertainment a few times.
I think the big reason Yates announced Gilliland’s deal as a one race thing, was simply because for IRP it was.
If the rumors prove to be correct, then Yates knew that Gilliland in the #90 would be discovered before they were ready to fully announce his full employment.
Then again, who knows for sure. However, too many people have confidential sources that prove correct the majority of the time.
I guess we’ll see what happens over the next 24 hours or so.
Luke said this on August 3rd, 2006 at 9:18 am